A Focus on Students: Strategies That Work

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Recruitment and Retention of Students from Underrepresented Populations

NSF has taken a leadership role in recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented populations in their sponsorship of the Opportunities to Enhance Diversity in the Geosciences program.

The SAGE 2YC (Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education in Two-Year Colleges) program addresses the importance of two-year colleges in recruitment and retention of students to the geosciences. They have developed numerous resources on:

• Geoscientists in the Workforce
• Career Pathways
• Professional Society Career Resources, and
• Many related resources that Support Student Success

The InTeGrate project has goals: 1) to develop curricula that will dramatically increase Earth literacy of all undergraduate students, and 2) to increase the number of majors in the geosciences and related fields who are able to work with other scientists, social scientists, business people, and policy makers to develop viable solutions to current and future environmental and resource challenges. This project has developed significant resources aimed to recruit diverse students to the cohort of geoscience majors, including:

• Broadening Access to the Earth and Environmental Sciences: Increasing the Diversity of Undergraduate Students Learning About the Earth
• Teaching Environmental Justice: Interdisciplinary Approaches
• Increase the Diversity of Your Graduates; attracting students, supporting students, succcessful strategies

The geosciences recognize the importance of introductory classes in recruitment and retention of majors to the discipline. This is due to the fact that Earth Science is irregularly taught in middle and high school curricula across the United States (notwithstanding the best efforts of the former National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) and the recent release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NRC, 2012)). The SERC Site Guide: Resources for Teaching Introductory Geoscience has a wealth of information that supports excellence in instruction in introductory courses.

There is also a growing awareness about the importance of motivations and barriers to learning in the geosciences. The web module on Student Motivation and the Affective Domain provides concrete advice on strategies to increase student motivation, and how to overcome barriers related to instruction about controversial issues.

Strategies for Targeted Student Audiences

General References for Students from Underrepresented Groups

• Broadening Participation -- National Science Foundation. Includes A Framework for Action and Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Broadening Participation Projects reports.
• Obstacles to Recruitment of Minorities into the Geosciences: A call to action -- S. O'Connell and M.A. Holmes (2011), GSA Today, v. 21, #6, doi: 10.1130/G105GW.1.
• Chang, M.J., J. Sharkness, S. Hurtado, and C.B. Newman (2014), What matters in college for retaining aspiring scientists and engineers from underrepresented racial groups, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, volume 51 (5), 555-580.
• Clewell,B. C., de Cohen, C. C., Tsui, L., & Deterdening N. (2006) Revitalizing the Nation's Talent Pool in STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Urban Institute; Washington, DC.
• Hurtado, S., Newman, C.B., Minh, C. and Chang, M. J., Improving the rate of success for underrepresented racial minorities in STEM fields: insights from a national project, New Directions for Institutional Research, 2010, issue 148, p 5-15, DOI: 10.1002/ir.357.
• Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion --Council of Graduate Schools
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  With a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF grant #1138814, "Completion and Attrition in AGEP and non-AGEP institutions"), the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) examined patterns of completion and attrition among URMs in STEM doctoral programs across twenty-one institutions in the United States, including those institutions affiliated with NSF's Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. The project has assembled the largest dataset of its kind to estimate the percentage of URM doctoral students in STEM fields who completed or withdrew from their program, and the time it took them to complete the doctoral degree. The project also sheds light on the range of supports available at institutions to support these students, using input from URM doctoral students enrolled in STEM programs, as well as university personnel.
• Teaching Urban Students -- from Pedagogy in Action.
• Urban Students, Urban Issues: Resources and Opportunities for Teaching Geosciences -- from On the Cutting Edge.

Focus on Hispanic Students

• Why are there so few Hispanic students in the Geosciences? -- P.J. Stokes, R. Levine, and K. Flessa, (2013), GSA Today, v. 24 #1, doi: 10.1130/GSATG176GW.1.
• Lisa C. Hammersley, R Levine, K Cornwell, J. E. Kusnick, B. P. Hausback, The Geology of Mexico: A Quantitative Evaluation of a Course Designed to Increase the Number of Hispanic Students Participating in the Geosciences at California State University, Sacramento, Journal of Geoscience Education, 2012, 60, 2, 189.

Focus on Afro-American Students

• Effective Strategies to Increase Diversity in STEM Fields: A Review of the Research Literature--Lisa Tsui, 2007, The Journal of Negro Education, v. 76#4, PP. 555-581.

Focus on Native American Students

• Weaving Native Knowledge into STEM Teaching and Learning at Tribal Colleges and Universities (2008). Prepared by Systemic Research Inc, Jason Kim and Linda Crasco; A report based on TCUP Self Evaluation Templates (TSET), Tribal colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) sponsored by NSF.
• Riggs, E.M., 2005, Field-based education and indigenous knowledge: Essential components of geoscience education for Native American communities. Science Education, v. 89, p. 296-313. doi: 10.1002/sce.s0032.
• Riggs. E.M., Robbins, E., and Darner, R., 2007, Sharing the land: Attracting Native American students to the geosciences. Journal of Geoscience Education, v 55, p. 478-485.
• Riggs, E.M., and Semken, S.C., 2001, Culture and Science: Earth science for Native Americans. Geotimes, 46, 14-17.

A Focus on Women

• Holmes, M.A., O'Connell, S., and Dutt, K., 2015, Women in the Geosciences: Practical, Positive Practices Towards Parity, Wiley/AGUISBN: 978-1-119-06785-6.
• Hill, C., Corbett, C. and St. Rose, A. (2010) Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics -- AAUW.

Strategies for Enabling Success for ALL Students

• Tobias, S., (1990), They're Not Dumb, They're Different--Stalking the Second Tier, Research Corporation;
• Seymour, E. and N. M. Hewitt. (1997). Talking about Leaving. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Jolly, E., P. Campbell, L. Perlman (2004) Engagement, capacity, and continuity: A trilogy for student success. GE Foundation. The Basis of the "whole student approach."
• The Whole Student Approach -- describes three major components: engagement, capacity and continuity. Developed by the InTeGrate project.
• The Affective Domain in the Classroom -- the affective domain encompasses those factors that affect a student's ability to learn: motivation, curiosity, fears, barriers, social contexts, pre- or misconceptions, self-efficacy (students belief that they CAN learn). From the On the Cutting Edge program.
• The Role of Metacognition in Learning -- provides resources for helping students to be aware of their learning; use of self-monitoring and self-regulatory behaviors to help students become intentional and life-long learners. From the On the Cutting Edge program.
• Kober, N. (2015) Reaching Students: What Research Says About Effective Instruction in Undergraduate Science and Engineering. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.
• National Research Council. (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21^st century Committee on Defining Deeper Learning and 21^st Century Skills, J.W. Pellegrino and M.L. Hilton, Editors. Board on Testing and Assessment and Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Undergraduate Research

• Undergraduate Research -- From the On the Cutting Edge program. Early engagement in authentic research is a proven mechanism to recruit and retain students from underrepresented groups.
• Undergraduate Research from the Starting Point project.
• Undergraduate Research as Teaching Practice -- a joint project of the On the Cutting Edge program and the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) to provide resources on "best practices" in design, development and supervision of undergraduate research projects.
• Undergraduate Research: Engaging Students in the First Two Years -- explores numerous strategies to embed authentic research into geoscience introductory courses.
• Undergraduate Research with 2YC Students -- from SAGE2YC
• REU Programs
  • S.C. Sanchez, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; L.C. Patino, E.L. Rom, S.C. Weiler, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA (2009) An analysis of NSF geosciences 2009 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site Programs, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #ED23B-03.
• SOARS
  • Windham, Thomas L., Stevermer, Amy J., Anthes, Richard A. (2004) SOARS®: An Overview of the Program and Its First 8 Years. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, v. 85, p. 424.
• Undergraduate Research Impacts Retention, the University of Michigan University Research Opportunities Program
  • Nagda, B.A., Gregerman, S.R., Jonides, J., von Hippel, William, Lerner, J.S., (1998). Undergraduate Student-Faculty Research Partnerships Affect Student Retention. The Review of Higher Education, Volume 22, pp. 55-72.
  • Gregerman, S.R., (1999). Improving the Academic Success of Diverse Students Through Undergraduate Research. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly. December 1999.
  • Hathaway, R. S., Nagda, B.A., Gregerman, S.R., The Relationship of Undergraduate Research Participation to Graduate and Professional Educational Pursuit, An Empirical Study, Journal of College Student Development, (2002)

Internships and Co-Op Opportunities

• Internships and Other Pre-professional Opportunities, from the InTeGrate project, provides resources for integrating these powerful tools into your program.

Place Based Learning

• Jude Apple, Judy Lemus, Steven Semken, Teaching Geoscience in the Context of Culture and Place, Journal of Geoscience Education, 2014, 62, 1, 1.
• Bouillion, L. M., & Gomez, L. M. (2001) Connecting School and Community with Science Learning: Real World Problems and School-Community Partnerships as Contextual Scaffolds. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38 (8), 878-98.
• Peterman, Frank and Audrey, Legacy on the Land -- connecting minority populations with our natural legacy in parks.
• Semken, S., 2005, Sense of place and place-based introductory geoscience teaching for American Indian and Alaska Native undergraduates. Journal of Geoscience Education, v.53 #2, 149-157.
• Ward, E.M.G., Semen,S., and Libarkin, J.C., 2014, The design of place-based, culturally informed geoscience assessment, Jour. Geoscience Education, v. 62, pl 86-103.
• Williams, D., and Semken, S., 2011, Ethnographic methods in analysis of place-based geoscience curriculum and pedagogy. Geol Soc. Amer. Sp. Paper 474, p. 49-62.

Service-Learning

• Service Learning in the Geosciences--from the On the Cutting Edge program
• Service Learning--from the Starting Point project
• Service Learning: Connect Classroom Learning with Societal Issues--from the InTeGrate project

Support for Developing Quantitative Skills

• Teaching Quantitative Skills in the Geosciences
• The Math You Need, When You Need It--Math Tutorials for Students in Introductory Geoscience

Topical Approaches to Engage Students from Underrepresented Groups

• Hands-on, data-rich, and socially relevant geoscience activities for 2YC classrooms: An introduction to InTeGrate modules -- developed by the InTeGrate project.
• Coastal Hazards, Risk, and Environmental Justice -- workshop outcomes developed by the InTeGrate project.
• Teaching Environmental Justice: Interdisciplinary Approaches -- workshop outcomes developed by the InTeGrate project.
• Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences -- workshop outcomes developed by the InTeGrate project.